NOWHERE TO HIDE

Facial recognition technology to protect Games

FACIAL recognition technology will be rolled out during the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games next year as authorities respond to the heightened terror environment. Cameras will monitor public transport to identify potential suspects before they can reach events attended by an estimated 1.5 million spectators.

FACIAL recognition technology is set to be deployed on the public transport network during the Commonwealth Games to identify potential terror suspects before they can get close to any sporting or public venue.

In what will be the most far reaching public use of the technology, the sophisticated system will be linked into the Gold Coast’s transport network — including platforms and major stops — and monitored around the clock during the 11-day event by some of the more than 10,000 security personnel tasked with making the Games safe.

It was hoped faces of suspects could be identified in the crowd and rapid ready response police and military deployed before they could get close to events and the estimated 1.5 million spectators expected to attend.

The Australian Federal Police is driving the initiative with the Gold Coast seen as the best test of a sophisticated facial network due to the city’s already high-level use of CCTV cameras.

But the technology could also soon become a feature at other major sporting and public events about the country as the Federal Government looks to ramp up public security in the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Manchester and London.

The issue is among a number of measures Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will discuss with State premiers in Hobart today as the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) look at security upgrades at major venues.

The Gold Coast Bulletin understands a detailed report of venue security has been produced.

That includes findings from a visit to the United States late last year by counter-terror officers who are planning for the Games from the basis of a “worst-case scenario” and where every piece of security technology will be used.

Police sources said the only sticking point during once-amonth Games security meetings has been who is to pay for the roll-out.

Facial technology is used in the US at major events like the Super Bowl.

The program was first rolled out secretly in Tampa in 2001, when 100,000 football fans faces at Super Bowl XXXV had their faces scanned and crossmatched with a database of known criminals.

Its existence caused a public scandal driven by civil libertarians when it was revealed some months after that game.

Technology has since advanced significantly, allowing sophisticated 3D imagery from crowd scans to be captured and matched in real-time.

It is already widely used in Australia, including at airports, and has been deployed by Australian authorities working with the United Nations in Jordan to scan and catalogue the hundreds of Syrian refugees crossing the border each day.

A spokesman for GOLDOC, the organising committee for the Games, said specific security initiatives could not be discussed.

“A range of safety and security strategies will be deployed for the Games; some of these strategies will be obvious to the community, for example the use of airport-style screening at the entry of all venues,” a spokesman said.

It has been confirmed 4200 private security guards would be deployed for the Games as well as more than 3500 Queensland police and 2000 Australian Defence Force personnel.

The Federal Government has allocated an additional $34 million in funding alone for the ADF security component for the event.